Doc. 9706

13 February 2003

Industrial hazards

Motion for a recommendation

presented by Mr J. Timmermans and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

The AZF chemical plant in Toulouse exploded on 21 September 2001 (30 people died, thousands were injured and numerous dwellings, business premises and public amenities were either destroyed or damaged). The causes of this disaster are still unknown but the fact that the industrial site was far too close to the city of Toulouse has been criticised.

The majority of European towns and cities have – sometimes dangerous - industrial sites situated too close to residential areas. This is often the result of urban development which has brought residential areas closer to sites that were originally established at a reasonable distance from towns and cities. However, it can also be the result of a lack of legislation or of outdated regulations concerning the situation of dangerous industrial plant or of failure to comply with existing laws.

Directive 96/82/EC on the major accident hazards of certain industrial activities (the so-called Seveso Directive) was adopted in 1996 and should have been transposed into the national legislation of EU member states. Nevertheless, whether these regulations are actually applied, and if so how, in the countries concerned with a view to preventing or managing major industrial hazards still needs to be verified (France, for example, has some 400 high-risk factories).

It would also be useful to examine laws and regulations in European countries which are not members of the European Union, some of which have a large number of technically obsolete and often poorly maintained industrial installations. The Council of Europe ought to look into all aspects of this matter: land-use, the prevention of industrial hazards and risk management and the need to inform and consult the public and to harmonise technical standards and legislation (in particular with a view to avoiding the relocation of dangerous industrial plants).

The Council of Europe’s Open Partial Agreement on Major Hazards (EUR-OPA), which is concerned not only with natural disasters but also with technological and industrial hazards, held a workshop-debate in Toulouse on 23 October 2002 on the prevention of industrial hazards, at which it was decided to set up a European Institute on Industrial Safety.

The Assembly endorses this initiative and, in this context, wishes to address the issue of industrial hazards and their prevention.

It also recommends that the Committee of Ministers consider this question with a view to devising European measures concerning the use of land for dangerous industrial plant and the prevention of major industrial hazards.

Signed (see overleaf)

Signed: 1

Timmermans J., Belgium, SOC

Agudo, Spain, SOC

Ciemniak, Poland, SOC

Cousin, France, EDG

de Puig, Spain, SOC

Fernández Aguilar, Spain, EPP

Floros, Greece, SOC

Giertych, Poland, EDG

Giovanelli, Italy, SOC

Graas, Luxembourg, LDR

Grachev, Russia, EPP

Gubert, Italy, EPP

Haraldsson, Iceland, LDR

Herczog, Hungary, SOC

Ilaşcu, Romania, NR

Jurić, Croatia, LDR

Lobkowicz, Czech Republic, EPP

Masseret, France, SOC

Meale, United Kingdom, SOC

Nazaré Pereira, Portugal, EPP

Ohlsson, Sweden, SOC

Oliverio, Italy, SOC

Padilla, Spain, EPP

Schicker, Austria, SOC

Schmied, Switzerland, LDR

Sudarenkov, Russia, SOC

Theodorou, Cyprus, SOC

Truu, Estonia, EDG

Velikov, Bulgaria, NR

1        SOC: Socialist Group